Victor to vote on $12 million school project

Thursday

Aug 30, 2007 at 12:01 AMAug 30, 2007 at 4:18 PM

The district will pay for new classrooms, paving, an artificial turf field and other improvements with savings and state aid.

Amy Cavalier

Just as the Victor district finishes up a $28 million capital project, the school plans to embark on another $12 million in work that includes an artificial turf field, a fitness center and a new playground.

Residents can vote on Capstone Project 2007 on Friday, Sept. 7, from noon to 9 p.m. in the junior high school gymnasium.

The current $28 million project was approved in December 2004.

"The new project will largely consist of items that were not included in this project due to availability of funds," said Superintendent Tim McElheran.

McElheran cited a need to upgrade facilities and to accommodate a rising number of students. Including a new prekindergarten program, the district has about 250 more students this year, bringing the total to just over 4,000.

The project up for a vote is slated to cost $11,971,900; state aid will cover $8,021,900. The district will take the rest, $3,950,000, from its $6 million savings account.

"We have a capital reserve where we saved money just like a homeowner will save money if they put an addition on a new home," said McElheran. "Some would borrow and some would save, and our district has saved the money."

If the project is approved, construction would begin in May 2008 and end in August 2009. Construction will include renovations to each of the district's buildings. In the Victor Education Center, the second floor will be converted into three kindergarten classrooms and a playground will be added. In the intermediate school, the cafeteria and serving lines will be renovated.

The junior/senior high school will get $5.5 million in renovations, including two new classrooms, a fitness area, air conditioning in computer labs and an artificial-turf football field. The district will buy 130 ceiling-mounted projectors for classrooms, 224 wireless laptops and 100 interactive white boards.

Part of the first proposition includes the establishment of a new $6 million capital reserve.

"What we will do is fund that capital reserve over a period of years from unexpended monies," said McElheran, referring to money left over at the end of each school year. The money in the new capital reserve will be saved for future projects.

A second proposition for bus purchases will also be on the ballot. It asks residents to approve the purchase of four 77-passenger and four 27-passenger buses, with one being converted into a wheelchair bus. These buses would replace vehicles that are at least 12 years old with more than 100,000 miles. The total for these purchases is $638,829, with New York providing 60 percent of the funding through transportation aid.

The district buys buses every year and finances them with five-year bonds. Borrowing for the latest purchases replaces debt that gets paid off, keeping the total amount of principal and interest spent on buses largely unchanged from year to year.

Stephanie Bergeron can be reached at (585) 394-0770, Ext. 255, or at sbergeron@mpnewspapers.com.